Vinlandia

Robert De Vaugondy, 1740

2005-11-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

Another western hemisphere? Whats happening? The full title of this map is "Le Nouveau Continent ou l'Amerique Divisée en Septentrionale et Meridionale ou l'on trouve, les Climats, les Meridiens, les differentes possessions, les Pueples Naturels Libres, les differentes Religions, et les differentes Langues, par les Srs. Sanson ... Revue et corrigée...par le Sr. Robert ... avec Privilege du Roi 1740".

Its a relatively uncommon map, based on the Sanson model. Added to the cartography is a strip along the left (in green here) that details religions, languages, climate. The gulf of California is closed on this map, as becomes more common in this era but the northwest of the continent still is all out of wac.

Hondius America

2005-11-17T16:57:00.001-08:00

I know...I know...its out of my collecting area. But...I was at an auction and it was up for sale and I love the bulbous south America of the early late 1500's early 1600's, not to mention the variety of other gross misunderstandings (and bad guesses) of early Americas maps that I had to get it.

This is the 3rd state of the Hondius America map. The first was published in 1618, this state is from 1631 and differs from the first state in that the name in the cartouche is updated to Henricus Hondius, rather than Jodocus.

Raif Effendi - European Turkey 1803

2005-04-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've recently acquired - after a long, long search - a copy of Raif Effendi's Turkish Empire. This map is difficult to come by - only 50ish copies were ever produced and it is a sheet of the Ottoman Empire from the first European Style atlas published in the Ottoman Empire and in the native Ottoman language.

This map - and indeed the entire atlas from which it comes - was taken from a Faden Atlas from 1720, although the cartouche is altered to remove Christian imagery.

Visscher Anatolia/Natolie

2005-03-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

This map title Tabula nova geographica Natoliae et Asiae minoris is from 1640 (Amsterdam). This is a lovely colored map that details that regions of Anatolia and includes coverage of Cyprus.

Blaue Turkish Empire

2005-03-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

Below is the Blaue Turkish empire from my collection. This map follows the general form of Gastaldi's Arabian peninsula and is similar in form to the most of the well known Turkish empire maps of the 17th century (see the "My favorite map" post here on my blog).

Ortelius Aevi Veteris, Typus geographicus

2005-03-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

This is a map of the world as it was known in "ancient times", meaning as known by the Romans. This particular sheet is from the 1601 Latin Edition of the Theatrum, by Abraham Ortelius. The text on the map notes that this was the world as it was known until 1492 (so it notably does not include the "new world" of the Americas. It is estimated that there are a little over 100 copies of this map in loose circulation.

[view larger]

The text included on the map is of the various "zones" of lattitude (temperate, frigid etc.).

Sanson Sacred Geography

2005-03-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

Also added to my collection recently is Sanson's Sacred Geography (from Geographia Sacra…in tabulas duas distincta).

[view large]

This is a "historical map" made in 1692. By historical we mean that it was a map made in 1692 of the world according to how it was once known. I have many sacred geography maps by other mapmakers including a favorite by Ortelius that I will post sometime.

Jansonnius Byzantium nunc Constantinopolis, 1640

2005-03-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

I've recently added this view of Constantinople to my collection. I was happy to find this item at auction in nearly mint condition. This is harder-to-find updated version of the original 2 Braun & Hogenberg states of this plate.

This print is from the era of Suleiman the Magnificent and clearly shows the Topkapi Palace and the Suleymaniye mosque. Most regard Suleiman's reign as the height of the ottoman empire's power as the zenith of their expansionism.

My Favorite Antique Map

2005-02-15T15:08:00.000-08:00

If you read my first post (you did, right?) then you know I collect antique maps...

My favorite map (currently) is Ortelius's Turcici Imperii Descriptio, published between 1570-1575 (first plate) & again between 1579-1612 (second plate) in Antwerp. This map models Gastaldi's depiction of the Arabian peninsula (as do most maps of the region from the period) with some modifications. The map is quite decorative and my experience would say its a bit hard to get your hands on.

The full title of the map is "Turcici Imperii Descriptio. Concordia parvæ res crescunt, Dis/cordia maximæ dilabuntur". Translated this means "depiction of the Turkish empire. Through unity small things grow, through discord they fall asunder".

I specifically like the first plate (of two) of this map, mostly because it is "the original" and more rare and - in my mind - more collectible. It is believed that only 1425-1675 copies of this map were ever printed. You can most easily note the difference between the first and second plates of this map by looking at the cartouche in the lower left corner - the second plate had little cherubic babies and the first plate has a simple, barely decorative cartouche. I believe that only ~50 copies of this map are currently available in loose form (no longer in the atlas binding). Here is an image of the second plate of a map from my collection, I will try to upload an image of the first plate at some point.

view larger

This map is from the first edition of Ortelius's "Theatrum" - the first collection of maps after which the the modern atlas is modeled.

Much of the information in this post is stolen from Marcel Van De Broecke and their website, but since I've purchased maps from them in the past, I don't suppose they'll much mind! Check them out, they are a great place to look for Ortelius maps out of curiosity or to purchase.

First Post

2005-02-15T14:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my personal blog. Please note that any advertising revenue generated by my blog goes to support Nicenet.org. Here are some ditties about myself.

My name is Ben
I'm single in the irs-filing-status sense, but am very much not in all ways that matter. My rent is 1/2 half what it used to be.
I work at a company called Remedy Interactive as their Executive Vice President of Technology.
Nathan Dintenfass and I have a non-profit called Nicenet, a bonified 501(c)(3) organization always looking for donations and support.
I love antique maps. I collect them, with a focus on Turkey (Anatolia, Turkish Empire, Ottoman Empire, Black Sea etc.). My preference is for the 16th and 17th centuries, but I have many items later than that.

This blog is called "Vinlandia" after the famed Vinland map - a map rumored to be an authentic viking map showing the North America and thus proof that Columbus wasn't the original "discoverer" of North America (from the anglo-saxon perspective anyway). While the map has been exposed as a fraud (to the chagrin of the Yale map collection), but fact that Vikings visited North America before columbus is only rarely contested at this point. People were in a tizzy about this whole "scandal", lined up on sides of the debate. The Spanish were pissed, the Northlanders were excited and the Native Americans...well....they weren't being considered in historical revision this time either.

That does little to explain why I chose the name, but does tell you the origin of the name I suppose. I chose "Vinlandia" because in that Andy Kauffman way it reminds us how even the most serious of matters and debates can be newly understand when viewed as a farce. And...I just like that.